Matching people who have good ideas and sound business plans with those who have the finances necessary to make their drums a reality is the goal of the recently organized West Virginia Angel Network.

Spokesman Bob McLaughlin, president of the I-79 Development Council, said similar angel organizations across the United States have increased from approximately 10 to more than 200 groups over the past two decades. Patterned after other successful networks, this is the first such effort in the Mountains State, he said.

"This growth has occurred because individual investors found many advantages to working together, such as better investment decisions, enhanced deal flow and the ability to combine their funds into larger equity investments and group social attributes," he said.

Members of the Vision Shared Early Stage Capital Committee recognized the need for such an organization in West Virginia.

"We noticed there has been a gap between entrepreneurs investing their own money and what they were able to get by going to venture capital groups and banks," he said.

Although they could see the need and the potential benefit, a volunteer organization such as Vision Shared found it difficult to get things going, McLaughlin said. That's why the I-79 Development Council became involved.

"We assumed the responsibility of trying to take the bull by the horns to bring it all together," he added. "We knew it was important to us (north-central West Virginia) and to the entire state."

McLaughlin and network consultant Ron Basini are working with an initial group of 15 investors. They are partnering with the law firm Steptoe & Johnson PLLC and the accounting firm Toothman Rice PLLC. An informational meeting took place Feb. 11 in Parkersburg. Other meetings will occur in Martinsburg (Feb. 23), Huntington (Feb. 25) and Beckley (March 24). Meetings also are being planned in Charleston, Wheeling, Fairmont and Flatwoods.

"We will be contacting community leaders, such as bankers, attorneys, certified public accountants and other professionals to assist us in identifying potential angel investors throughout West Virginia," he said. "Our goal is to invite approximately 50 additional investors to become the founding membership of the network."

It welcomes applications from startups and early stage companies headquartered in West Virginia. Decisions on investing will be done on an individual basis with criteria including market growth potential, management team quality and marketing strategy.

"The application process includes development of a business plan that includes the amount of financing, marketing plan and other essential information," he said. "We want to help them (entrepreneurs) get ready and identify potential weaknesses before they make their presentation to the investors."

Basini, a Bramwell resident who formerly worked with an entrepreneurial program at Concord University, said people looking for assistance should have an exit plan within four to seven years of investment, a business proof-of-concept via customer sales commitment, and investments typically in the $250,000-to-$500,000 range.

The network is more interested in technical and light manufacturing projects than retail and commercial businesses, according to McLaughlin. He said a realistic startup goal would be to fund four to five projects per year.

Application information is available on the network's Web site, www.wvangel.net.